


Of Meeting New People

by ToBeLonely



Category: Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, kingdom of science - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:07:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29916666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToBeLonely/pseuds/ToBeLonely
Summary: Suika meets new and old members of the Kingdom of Science.
Relationships: Asagiri Gen & Suika, Chrome & Suika, Hanada Nikki & Kohaku, Hanada Nikki & Suika, Ishigami Senkuu & Suika, Nanami Ryuusui & Suika, Ogawa Yuzuriha & Ooki Taiju, Ogawa Yuzuriha & Suika, Ooki Taiju & Suika, Saionji Ukyou & Suika, Shishiou Mirai & Suika
Kudos: 10





	1. Meeting Yuzuriha

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure how many chapters I'll write, or how often. I've never really written anything. But Dr Stone is awesome and there's not much in terms of fanfictions (especially when you don't ship Senku with anyone, which is my case) so I thought I'd add many own 2 cents.

"Now, we wait."

Left behind at their base camp, the non-fighters of the Kingdom of Science watched as their comrades' backs finally disappeared into the forest. Only after a couple minutes did they turn away and try to settle down to wait for the outcome of the battle.

Suika however, didn't. Her fists tightened into fists, her gaze wouldn't leave the trees as she struggled to recall why she couldn't follow them. She so, so wanted to help. There had to be something she could do, right? Even if she couldn't fight, she could still be useful.

What if they didn't come back?

"And who might you be?"

The girl startled violently, turning to face the foreign voice that had just adressed her. As she panicked her foot hit a small rock and she lost her balance. Before she could prepare herself to hit the ground arms circled her torso, stopping her fall before pulling her up.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! Are you alright?"

Suika finally laid eyes on the stranger to immediately recognize Senku's friend Yuzuriha. The young woman let the girl go, still wearing a guilty expression.

"I'm okay!" The latter answered quickly, hoping to reassure the former. "And I'm Suika! It's nice to meet you!"

Yuzuriha's frown melted into a soft smile as the youngest's words and bright grin eased the knott in her chest.

"Would you come to sit with me? I'd love to hear about what Senku and you guys have been up to, and Miss Ruri told me you're the best one for the job."

Suika lightened up at the praise, her spine straightening as she stood taller.

"You can count on me!" She beamed as she caught her new friend's wrist and pulled her along to find a suitable place for the story-telling.


	2. Meeting Taiju

"They're coming back! They won!"

Beryl's cry was heard by all in the camp, and loud cheers full of relief answered her as she came down from the watching post. Suika found herself being hugged by Yuzuriha, who released her as everyone crowded Beryl to hear about what she had seen. Unfortunately their enthusiasm only made it more difficult.

" Everyone! Please, settle down. Let her speak!" Ruri intervened as questions were flying unanswered.

The crowd grew silent.

"Some of our warriors and Taiju-san are coming back here. It's clear we won, they looked very relaxed, happy. I don't know where the others are though."

"They probably went to Tsukasa's base, reasoned En, it would be closer to treat the injured."

"Is that safe though?"

"If it wasn't they wouldn't have stayed, right?"

"When can we expect them?" Shirogane asked.

"They are about 5 minutes away, they'll be there soon."

Excited whispers broke out at those words.

"Everyone! We should probably make sure one last time that we're ready to welcome them and deal with their wounds. Let's get to work!".

As the villagers went to execute Ruri's directive, Suika found herself aimless. Kaseki and Yuzuriha seemed to be in a similar case, staying still in the middle of the camp.

"Suika-chan, Miss Yuzuriha, come here!" Sango called out to them after noticing their confusion. "I'll show you how you can help!"

Both of them eagerly ran to her and found themselves in the infirmary. They then listened carefully to her explications of how to treat benign wounds, making sure to remember the different medicines Sango showed them; Suika could see that Yuzuriha was very serious, probably as determined to be helpful as she was.

Before they knew it, joyful exclamations rang from outside ; the warriors were back. Everyone in the tent ran out of the infirmary to greet them.

Fortunately noone was badly injured. Suika made sure to investigate herself; no one had much more than scratches and bruises. Still, those had to be taken care of so Suika went to help Yuzuriha patch everyone up. She could see Yuzuriha was doing a great job even though it was her first time doing it.

"Hey, Yuzuriha! We won! "

Taiju had finally walked into the tent after everyone else had already been looked after.

"So I've heard, she answered with a soft smile, now come here so I can look at you. Suika-chan do you mind fetching me some more bandages please?"

It was only then that Taiju seemed to register the rest of the room, and more precisely Suika.

"Eeek! It's a watermelon!" The young man shouted, panicked.

"Taiju be nice!" Yuzuriha scolded gently. "Suika-chan, this is Taiju. Taiju, Suika-chan."

"Nice to meet you!"

"Eeeh! It talks!"

"Taiju!" Yuzuriha exclaimed, sounding embarrassed. "I'm so sorry Suika-chan."

"Oh euh, nice to meet you too Suika! I'm very sorry about that."

The girl giggled at the young man's antics. He seemed rather nice, all things considered.

"Now sit still, Taiju." Yuzuriha ordered. "And leave Suika alone so that she can go and get you some bandages."

"I'm on it!"


	3. Meeting Nikki

"Hey guys! We're moving base!"

Those were Chrome's first words when he arrived on the car with Kohaku and Gen about three hours after Homura's escape from the camp.

"Chrome, Kohaku ! Homura, she..."

"Yeah we know, we caught her Suika don't worry." Kohaku answered the girl's panicked warnings.

"Yeah, her and Hyoga." Chrome confirmed. "Come on, we've gotta start packing!"

"Where are we going?"

"The others' base. Since we're all allies now, it'll be easier to be close to get things done. Suika, could you round everyone up?"

"I'm on it!"

* * *

When they arrived at the base, a tall and strong woman was waiting for them alongside Taiju, Kokuyo, Kinro and Ginro. 

"That's Nikki." Kohaku said. She had been walking alongside Suika the whole way, answering her questions about what the last few days had been like for the team searching for Tsukasa's little sister. "We've talked a bit since the battle. She may seem intimidating, but she's nice. Ukyo and her have been really helpful in getting everyone to listen to us."

Suika nodded as their welcoming committee greeted them and asked about the last couple days. Kinro, followed by a reluctant Ginro, started emptying the car's supplies. Eager to help, Suika imitated them, quickly followed by Kohaku and a couple other villagers.

"Well, you guys work quickly." Rang Nikki's voice as she approached them, having noticed their activity. "Hey bullhead come over here!" She called out to Taiju before continuing. "Follow me, I'll show you where everything goes." 

"Blame Senku, he's a real slave-driver." Kohaku answered Nikki's initial remark as she picked up a heavy jar. Suika thought it contained some kind of rock. "You'll see soon enough." 

"Well, it fits the character that's for sure. Anyway, I need to start learning all of your names." She adressed Suika and the others. "I'm Nikki by the way." 

Suika let Suzu, Namari and Tetsuken introduce themselves before speaking up. 

"And I'm Suika! It's nice to meet you!" 

"I must say I didn't think they were kids with you guys." Nikki stated.

"All of them are back at the village with the elders." Kohaku replied. "Suika is the only exception. She's actually the one who snuck in and found Chrome's location, giving him a hint as to our camp's location as well. She's our master detective."

"Really? Sounds like I underestimated you kid." Nikki added, in what sounded like a hidden apology. "You can put the lab things here." She added louder for the group as they had reached one of the many small caves of the base.

Suika was beaming under Kohaku's obvious and Nikki's subtle praise. Kohaku had been right, the lady was nice, if a bit blunt. Kind of like Taiju. 

"Speaking of which, Suika could you go tell Senku we're here? He'll probably want to have a say as to how we stock the scientific supplies. I'm not sure where he is though..." 

"Overseeing the construction of some ovens, just down the cliff. Or at least he was 10 minutes ago. There's a path down just 50 meters in that direction." Nikki completed. 

"You can count on me!" Suika smiled.


	4. Meeting Yo

"Hi Suika-chan. Did you sleep well?"

Suika turned to see Yuzuriha coming toward her, carrying a basket which looked heavy. She had slept pretty well, all things considered - the girl had never slept anywhere else than in her own bed a week ago, so overall she hadn't been getting a lot of rest in the last few days. The concern for her friends and the fear of unfamiliar surroundings had made it hard to fall asleep. But now that she had been able to check that everyone was alright with her own eyes, the stress had eased up and the exhaustion had helped her sleep through the night.

"I did!" Suika said with a grin.

"Did you have breakfast yet?"

"Yep!"

"Then do you mind helping me with this? I could use a hand."

"I'll be useful! What is it?"

"Follow me."

Yuzuriha started walking again and Suika fell into step with her.

The girl immediately recognized the path they were taking : it was the one Nikki had told her about the previous day, which led down the cliff to the new ovens. As her companion walked in front of her and was thus a little less high, Suika could see that Yuzuriha's basket contained little stones.

"Are those stones for Senku's science?"

"Not really. Those are pieces of a broken statue. I've nearly finished putting it back together. Putting a statue back together takes a long time though, and we have to fix all the broken statues before the stone gets damaged. I've been working alone so far so it took too long, but with some more people to help we might be able to make it."

"I'll help!" Suika immediately cried out. She wanted the stone people to be okay.

"That will be great."

The girls finally reached a statue which was missing half of its head and its right foot. Suika caught a glimpse of Chrome working on finishing the ovens as Yuzuriha put her burden down and took out some glue and a wooden plate. 

"Let's get to work then!"

* * *

They had just revived the manga artist and everyone was very excited about the "entertainment" he would make when the man Chrome called Yo arrived. Suika thought he was a little scary, especially as Chrome said he was probably an ennemy.

But Yuzuriha didn't seem too scared, even though she probably knew Yo best, so Suika followed her when she went to show Yo the statues he would help put back together. Besides, Kohaku was there, so Yo couldn't try anything. He was also less scary when he was shocked by the amount of work there was to do.

"Suika, are you coming?"

The girl turned to see Chrome waiting for her. Did Chrome need her help? But she couldn't abandon Yuzuriha...

It seemed the young woman gad read her thoughts in her eyes when she had given her a glance, because she immediately said :

" Don't worry Suika, I've got it handled. You can help me some other time."

"Wait why is there a kid here? And what's with the watermelon?"

Suika didn't give him an answer before following Chrome out of the cave, and neither did anyone else.

You wasn't a friend, but he wasn't an ennemy anymore. Kind of like Magma, Suika would say.

"Say, Chrome, what are we doing?"

The young man turned to face her with a bright grin.

"Some baaaaad science. You excited Suika?"

"Yeah!" 


	5. Meeting Mirai

Suika was helping Chrome remove the gold threads from the phone while Senhu and Kaseki got the pistons from the car, when Kohaku walked up to her.

"Hey Suika could I borrow you for a moment?"

The girl looked up, before glancing back at Chrome who nodded at her to go on.

"See you later Suika."

Satisfied that her work here was done, she followed Kohaku on a path which led up the cliff with a kinder slope than the one she was used to take.

"Tsukasa is saying goodbye to Mirai-chan right now. Once they're finished, I was hoping you could spend some time with her while we take care of making that freezer Senku was telling us about. She could probably use a friend right now, and it might be easier if it's someone about her age."

Suika frowned. She wasn't sure what Kohaku meant. How could Suika possibly help Mirai feel better? Suika would be inconsolable if Kohaku or Chrome went away. 

"How old is Mirai?" She decided to ask instead, because she didn't know and that was important. 

"Physically she's 12, but she's spent her last 6 years sleeping so in her head she's a bit younger than that."

"I'm not sure I know how to help..." Suika admitted, finding it easier to say now that the discussion had started, her fists clenching at her side at the frustration of being powerless.

Kohaku immediately stopped walking upon hearing the uncertainty and despair in the girl's voice. She turned around and crouched down, putting her hands on Suika's shoulders in a reassuring gesture. 

" Suika, Mirai will be sad. You can't change that. No one can. But just because you can't fix everything doesn't mean you can't help at all. Mirai doesn't know anyone here, so she'll probably feel very alone once her brother is gone. But maybe having a friend could help her not feel as lonely. Or two friends, if you girls can find where Chalk went off to."

Oh. That made sense. Losing someone would hurt Suika, but at least she'd have the others still. Mirai didn't have anyone.

"I'll do it!" She declared without hesitation.

Kohaku smiled.

"Let's go then."

* * *

Suika watched as Kohaku hugged Mirai who had just come out of the cave where her brother was resting, stroking her back as the girl sobbed. She was bigger than Suika, but not tall enough to be an adult. Just a child like her.

When Mirai pulled away from Kohaku, she was still crying a little, but not much. Her eyes were red.

"Hey Mirai, this is Suika, the girl I told you about. Suika, meet Mirai. How about you girls get to know each other? I'm sure the two of you could get into a lot of mischief together."

Mirai finally looked up to Suika. She had stopped crying, but she looked a bit scared.

" Hi."

"Hi." Suika answered easily. "Do you like dogs?"

"Uh... Yes."

"Want to come meet Chalk? She's a puppy."

Mirai smiled. Suika felt warm inside. She loved it when people smiled.

"Yes."

"Come on then!" Suika said, holding out her hand.

Mirai took it, before letting out a little yelp of surprise when Suika started running, pulling her along. 

Kohaku walked away as well, a small smile on her lips.


	6. Meeting Ukyo

When Suika arrived to the place where their camp used to be, there was already a lot of people there; about as many people as there were in the village. Nikki and some other people whose names she didn't know were following her, as they had never been to the place where the meeting was set to take place before. Suika was happy to be useful.

"Suika! Over here!"

Upon hear her name the girl quickly located Chrome who was waving at her. She ran off to the rocks he was waiting by with Yuzuriha and Taiju.

"Good morning, Suika-chan." Yuzuriha greeted her when she reached them.

"Good morning!" She replied with the brightest smile. 

"Yo Suika!"

Barely registering Taiju's greeting, Suikas attention was captured by Chrome who had turned his back to the three of them them and seemed to be discussing with someone. It was a young man wearing yellow clothes and carrying a bow and a quiver, with a built similar to Chrome's. The latter interrupted himself upon hearing his companions noticing the girl's arrival.

" Hi Suika. Oh, have you met Ukyo yet?"

"I don't believe we've been introduced yet." The one in question chimed in. "I'm Ukyo." He added as his gaze met hers. 

"I'm Suika!" 

"Suika do you know how long it will be before Senku gets here?" Chrome asked, as there wasn't much more that could be said. 

"He said they were leaving 30 minutes after us." 

"They must have been done early then. They're already on their way, they should be here in about 15 minutes."

"You can hear them already? Baaad."

"Oh !" Suika remembered now, why the name was so familiar. "You're the one that can hear far away!"

"I am." Ukyo confirmed with an amused little smile.

Suika felt her cheeks grow red with guilt and embarrassment. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry! That wasn't very nice." She quickly apologized, staring at the ground in shame. 

Suika startled when a soft laugh broke her focus on her self-blaming thoughts. She looked up to find Ukyo smiling a little wider than before.

"Not to worry, it's only natural to be curious. In fact, I'd say it's a good state of mind for a citizen of a science kingdom." He finished with a smirk.

This time the tiny girl was red from the implied compliment. It was at times like these when she was grateful for her mask.

"I'm grateful for the consideration nonetheless, he added softly. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have."

"Then... How far can you hear?"

"About a couple kilometers away if I'm focusing."

"Isn't it noisy all the time then?" 

"A bit. But I'm used to it, so I don't really notice it. Your village is by the sea, isn't it? I'm sure sometimes you don't notice the sound of the waves anymore. It's still there, and you hear it, you you don't register it. Well it's a bit like that."

"Oh. That makes sense." 

"What about you Suika? What can you tell me about you?" Ukyo asked with disinterested curiosity. 

Suika fell silent. What was there to say? Suika wasn't special. The only thing different about her was that she had the fuzzy disease and wore a watermelon. She looked around for help, but Chrome and the others had wandered further away during her talk with Ukyo. 

The man in question must have noticed her struggle because he spoke up again. 

"Maybe questions would be easier? How about... What's one thing you do for fun?" 

"Huh... I like to explore the woods." Suika answered hesitantly. 

Ukyo immediately asked for more details. 

"What's nice about the woods?"

"Well, there's a lot of pretty flowers. They're not the same all year long though. Chalk and I make sure to remember where all of them are, so that we can see them again the next year." This time her answer was a bit more confident. 

"You'll have to show me then. I don't know a lot about flowers, but I always like seeing some. Do you know their names?"

"Some. Gen has been teaching me." 

"Huh, I didn't know Gen knew a lot about flowers."

"He uses them for his tricks." 

"Did he show you some of them?"

"Yeah! This one time... 

Suika felt such an ease discussing with Ukyo, progressively growing more and more expressive as she started gesturing to emphasize her claims, she didn't notice 15 minutes pass by before a familiar voice rang behind her.

"Well, well, if this isn't Suika-chan and Ukyo-chan. What are the two of you up to? " The newcomer ask mischievously. 

"Gen."

"Gen! I was telling Ukyo about the ramen and the cotton candy."

"Well I'm very sorry to interrupt you, but the both of you might want to come a little closer to everyone. Senku-chan is just doing a headcount before we get started."

"We're coming!"


	7. Meeting Ryusui

Ryusui was unlike every person Suika had ever met.

When they had first found him, Suika had been very impressed with how he was able to tell a storm was coming. Just like he had predicted, a terrible rain had stuck them inside. Surely Senku had found the perfect person to help them reach the other side of the world! 

But it turned out Ryusui's mind worked in different ways. He had first asked for "ownership" of the oil they would find in exchange for his cooperation.

Suika didn't understand how you could possibly own something that everyone had access to, something from nature. When she had asked Mirai, the girl didn't seem as confused as she was, but she had also said she didn't know much about oil. 

Thus, the girls had sought out Gen, who had accepted to explain what Ryusui was up to. Gen said that this was a bit like when they had fought over the miracle cave : control of precious resources gives power to people. If Ryusui controlled the oil, he could ask people for things in exchange for that oil, which meant he had power over them. He could ask them for food and not have to find his own for exemple. When Suika protested that this didn't seem fair, Gen somewhat agreed. It was true that Ryusui would have the responsibility of the crew's lives, so it wasn't like he really did not give anything in exchange. But when people had too much power and others not enough, the latter struggled to live decently, as they bore too many burdens and had little freedom. 

"And that's why Tsukasa-chan didn't want the old world to come back. Because some people had too much power back then." 

"So he was right?" Suika exclaimed, shocked by this new revelation. 

"He was. But he was also wrong. He didn't want the adults to come back; yet there were adults who were as opposed to this system as he was. It isn't really fair to punish everyone when not everyone did something wrong, right? And Ryusui is not an adult, yet he embraces that system."

"So how are we gonna stop him?" 

"Slow down Suika-chan, laughed Gen. Ryusui hasn't really done anything wrong yet. He hasn't asked anything unreasonable in exchange for his services or his oil, so he's not making people miserable, just trying to get the best deal he can for this partnership we want to create with him. Besides, trust me, Senku and I will play this game and win. You know we're good at negotiations. Don't worry too much about this, and don't be too harsh on Ryusui just yet."

Suika wasn't sure what to make of everything she'd just learnt. Why wouldn't Ryusui simply help them? Didn't he want to bring people back too? But she took Gen to his word and trusted that Senku and him would handle the situation. Those two were incredible when they worked together.

Then Ryusui introduced what the people from the old world called money. Mirai told her that money was a way to exchange things : when you needed something from someone you gave them money in exchange for what you took, and vice versa. Suika still didn't understand what was the point, so they went to ask someone to explain. This time they found Senku first. They watched him work on the plans for the boat as he explained. 

"Let's say you need new shoes Suika. Who makes the shoes in the village?" 

"Genbu."

"Alright so Genbu makes your shoes. If he takes him 3 days, he will eat 6 meals in the meantime right? But he does not have time to find his own food since he's creating the shoes. A practical solution would be for you to give him food, that way it's an exchange. But you don't know how to fish. However Sho does. And it just so happens that Sho needs a new net, and that you're very good at making nets. So you could do an exchange with three people : Sho gives fish to Genbu who gives you shoes and you give a net to Sho. It works because there are only 3 of you in this case. But the more people are involved in the exchange, the more complicated it is. What if Sho needed repairs to his house instead of a net, and that the person in charge of repairs needed clothes, and so on and so on?

Money is a way to make things easier. With money, you buy shoes from Genbu who can then buy fish from Sho with that same money. And then Sho can buy your net or have repairs made, whatever he needs. Money is a tool, it's a common value everyone uses to make exchanges easier."

" But why not just do things because people asked? "

"Hmm. It's a question of trust. You never needed money in Ishigami village because you trusted that everyone would do their best to help everyone. It was an exchange that lasted forever. But when there are a thousand people, things are different. You don't know everyone, so you don't know if they'll help you when you need it or not. You don't know if people are nice or not. Besides, maybe they don't agree with what you're doing so they actually have a reason not to help you. So you exchange things instead of giving them, so that if you ever need help, you can have something to give in exchange if the person won't do it for free."

Things were a little clearer after Senku's explanation. Suika thanked him before getting up to leave. Mirai followed suit. 

" Wait!" Senku called. 

The girls turned to see the young man had risen from his seat, a twinkle in his eyes announcing a new idea. 

"Speaking of money, we're gonna need a ton of those Dragos for the oil we'll need to travel. Are you girls up to help?" 

"I am!" Suika immediately exclaimed. 

"Mee too! I wanna help my brother!" 

"So here is the idea…" 

* * *

One its very first day, the ramen and cotton candy stand already had a lot of success. Suika had been very happy to teach her new friend to make the delicacies with Kohaku and Chrome's help, and they found out during their first sales that Mirai was good at being polite to their clients and handling the money. The girls made a great pair.

It was also one that first day that Suika finally met Ryusui in person. 

"Ooooh ramen and cotton candy? I desire it!"

At the familiar voice, both of the girls snapped out of the conversation they had been having. 

"Welcome to our Ramen and Cotton Candy stand!" Mirai immediately reacted. "How can we help you sir?" 

"And two charming young ladies selling here! Might I ask for your names?" 

"I'm Mirai."

"And I'm Suika." 

"It's nice to meet you." The girls concluded. 

"Nice to meet you as well young ladies, my name is Ryusui. I'm very intrigued by your products. I'll have one of each!" 

Suika dedicated herself to preparing the ramen bowl while Mirai handled the transaction and the candy. 

"Do you ladies mind if I keep you company while I eat? I'd love to know more about the kind girls selling this food." 

Suika wasn't sure what to do. Ryusui was acting really nice, but she wasn't sure if he was being honest. She turned to Mirai who also did not seem sure about the decision they should take. Gen's quick business class hadn't prepared them for this situation.

"I'll keep out of your way, not to worry." Ryusui reassured them. 

"Well, I guess it's alright." Suika answered. 

"Wonderful!" 

The man set himself on a rock a couple steps away from their stand. 

"May I ask about the ingredients you used for the ramen? I don't think I've seen any wheat fields around here." Ryusui asked once he had eaten about half of his bowl. 

"I'm afraid it's a trade secret." Mirai answered with a charming smile, following Gen's advice to the letter. 

"Of course, you would be right. My apologies. May I ask who developed the recipe then?" 

"Senku did. For the cotton candy too." Suika answered. 

"He did? Well, I'm impressed. There seems to be nothing this man cannot do, huh?" 

Thankfully, the man stayed silent for the rest of his meal. 

Ryusui started coming to their stand every few days after that, up until he left for Ishigami village in the hot air balloon. Even after a couple weeks, the young girl still didn't know what to make of him. 

* * *

Suika hadn't had the best first impression from Ryusui, nor did anyone else really. But it would change, slowly, as they all came to know and care for each other. 

Sometimes, friendships just take time. 


End file.
